Climate & lifestyle
US cities with the shortest commutes
The lowest average commute times among cities over 50k.
Time is the cost nobody prices. These cities over 50k residents have the shortest average commute we track.
Published by WhereToHQ research. Calculated from committed source data with no generated editorial text.
What the ranking shows
- Sioux Falls, SD leads this list at 17 min for avg. commute.
- Across the 15 published entries, avg. commute ranges from 17 min to 20 min. The other columns show tradeoffs that the headline order cannot capture.
| # | City | Avg. commute | Cost of living index | Median home price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux Falls, SD201k | 17 min | 85 | $292,400 |
| 2 | Rapid City, SD78k | 17 min | 88 | $299,400 |
| 3 | Fargo, ND132k | 18 min | 85 | $281,900 |
| 4 | Lincoln, NE295k | 19 min | 84 | $264,000 |
| 5 | Des Moines, IA212k | 19 min | 88 | $220,000 |
| 6 | Cedar Rapids, IA137k | 19 min | 79 | $187,100 |
| 7 | Billings, MT119k | 19 min | 93 | $343,400 |
| 8 | Davenport, IA101k | 19 min | 77 | $166,400 |
| 9 | Fayetteville, AR99k | 19 min | 91 | $350,000 |
| 10 | Sioux City, IA86k | 19 min | 77 | $173,600 |
| 11 | Omaha, NE489k | 20 min | 90 | $280,000 |
| 12 | Wichita, KS398k | 20 min | 78 | $190,800 |
| 13 | Overland Park, KS200k | 20 min | 100 | $413,600 |
| 14 | Kansas City, KS155k | 20 min | 79 | $167,400 |
| 15 | Olathe, KS145k | 20 min | 93 | $364,700 |
Ranked from public data we track (US Census/ACS, BLS, EIA, FEMA, NOAA, Tax Foundation) and recomputed on every data refresh. Figures are estimates for comparison, not advice; open any city to see all facets.
Candidate rules: 50,000 or more residents. Ranking rule: Avg. commute, lowest first.
WhereToHQ loads at most the 500 largest eligible national candidates, or 300 candidates for a state list, before applying the published rules. Missing values are excluded from a direct sort or hard filter. In a weighted score, an unknown value is neutral rather than favorable.